PORTLAND, Maine — "We are really open and inclusive. We care deeply about everyone who comes to our shop," Andrew Zarro, the owner of Little Woodford coffee shop on Congress Street in Portland, said.
Zarro said Little Woodfords is a queer-owned business where kindness comes first.
"That stuff is really more important to me than giving you a really good cup of coffee."
With a white brick exterior and calming pink trim, the coffee shop is bright and inviting. A pride flag waves outside its front door. It operates under the motto: "Little Woodfords is for lovers." But Tuesday morning, a little bit of darkness crept in.
"I heard a loud bang," Zarro said. "I honestly thought someone fell, so I rushed out front."
What he found was not a person who had fallen.
"I was really saddened to see a guy had just finished breaking the flag pole off the side of our building. It was sad. It's like the fourth time that's happened."
Zarro did not call police, but took to the store's Instagram page to share a photo of the flag and broken flag pole, writing:
"at work just now and heard a loud noise — came to find a man (lol why is it always the same type of dude?) outside who had just snapped our pride flag right off the building.
this isn’t the first time this has happened, and it certainly isn’t the last. we are used to people screaming slurs at us, or defacing our flags. we’ve lived through feeling fear while someone unleashes their hate on us. this one was relatively calm. we are grateful it hasn’t become physical.
we’re resilient and will be okay. so here’s a reminder to shine as bright as you can. to let people live their lives and to figure your sh*t out before you try to project it onto others. life’s short, be cool #f***homophobia #pride"
Speaking to NEWS CENTER Maine later in the day, Zarro said, "It's just so sad when you see people try to bring hate or harm to someone just for being who they are."
"The flag goes right back up. We're still who we are, that's not gonna change. But I think it's important to call it out. I think it's important to recognize that a lot of the reactions we hear are 'oh that doesn't happen here, that doesn't happen in Portland,' but the reality is that it does and it happens quite a bit. And it's not just to the LGBTQ community, but any marginalized identities you can think of it happens."
With that in mind, Zarro said he won't let the hate win. Like the hydra of Greek mythology goes: cut off one head, two may appear.
"We have a bunch of flags here, so you can take one down ... seven more are going to pop up!"
Furthermore, Zarro said his neighbors came out to show their love and support. In less than 45 minutes after posting the photo on Instagram, he said at least four of his neighbors stopped by with flags and a new flag pole.
Moving forward, Zarro hopes more people can practice kindness, or at the very least, indifference.
"The only thing that's coming to mind right now is the song lyric: 'mind your own biscuits and life will be gravy.' Just be cool, and let people be who they are."